Transgender in America: Understanding History, Culture, and Politics to Advance Equity in Education and Counseling

Lewis & Clark Graduate School, South Chapel

This workshop for mental health and education professionals will focus on ways one can can improve their practice when armed with a better understanding of the complex personal, social, political and medical challenges that affect the lives of transgender people. Discussion will be relevant to those across the age spectrum, and include a retrospective examination of how generational attitudes toward gender diversity have impacted policies, civil and human rights and access to healthcare.

Attendees will gain increased perspective on the complex historical and cultural attitudes and politics that have impacted the lives of transgender people, including detailed data on evolving psycho-medical approaches to care in the 20th and 21st century.

This knowledge will enhance and improve the implementation of multidisciplinary counseling (personal and professional) and educational advocacy efforts in the areas of social justice, service delivery and family support. The training will be relevant to people at all levels of the education and mental health fields.

Following the training, participants will have the ability to:

More effectively engage transgender people of all ages through greater understanding of the historical, institutional and societal challenges they encounter in their respective professional settings

Interpret detailed data on psycho-medical approaches to care in order to provide more supportive services to transgender students and clients

Evaluate existing medical models and standards of care based on interpretation of data

Evaluate education policies and protocols based on interpretation of data to inform best practices in education and counseling

Facilitate more effective service delivery and expanded outreach to populations and communities in need

About the Instructors

Jenn Burleton, Founder and Executive Director, TransActive Gender Center, is considered an to be an authority and nationally recognized leader on issues relating to transgender and gender diverse children and youth. In addition to her work at TransActive, she currently serves on Oregon Health & Science University’s Transgender Program Advisory Committee, and is part of the LGBTQ Child Welfare Workgroup for Multnomah County. She was recently awarded the 2014 Multnomah County “Sy Award” for lifetime commitment to social justice.

Kit Crosland is a long-time advocate, educator and creator of content on issues impacting the lives of gender diverse and transgender children and their families. Kit’s years of direct engagement as a facilitator and mentor have made him an invaluable part of the team at TransActive. He coordinates TransActive’s “In A Bind” project, which has distributed well over 2,000 ergonomically safe binders to trans youth since 2012, and also a recipient of the coveted Skidmore Prize for his contributions to the success of non-profit organizations like TransActive.